E-mail this article

To:

Invalid E-mail address

Add a personal message:(80
character limit)Your E-mail:

Invalid E-mail address

Sending your article

By Michael Vega, Globe Staff

TORONTO — After being away from the team for the last two days to be with his wife, Kelli, for the birth of their second child, Dustin Pedroia rejoined the Red Sox in Toronto in time to play in Saturday's game against the Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre.

Pedroia was positively beaming after the couple welcomed the arrival of their newborn son, Cole, Thursday morning.

"He's big — he's almost nine pounds,'' marveled Pedroia, who was weary from a lack of sleep but appeared none worse the wear as he spoke with reporters in the visitors' dugout.

"I brought him home at 1 in the afternoon [Friday] and then got on a flight about 7 o'clock that night,'' said Pedroia, who departed after the sixth inning of Wedneday night's home game against the Yankees when his wife went into labor. "There was not much rest, but it was worth it.''

Pedroia, who has hit safely in all but three of his last 35 games since Aug. 5 to record a Major League-high .381 batting average in that stretch, said he was eager to get back to work, especially after the team had to reshuffle its infield, with Mike Aviles filling in for Pedroia at second base in Friday night's 8-6 victory over the Blue Jays.

Pedroia was back in the lineup for Saturday's game at second base, hitting out of the No. 3 position.

"When I got to the hospital I watched the rest of that game, and then the next day, but I couldn't watch [Friday] night because I was flying,'' Pedroia said. "Yeah, I mean, I missed being around the guys and doing what I can to help them out, so it's good to be back.''

Pedroia, who also has a 3-year-old son Dylan, said it was a relief to finally get through the birth of his second son only because of the anxiety he felt for his wife.

"Just because she had problems with Dylan, so I was always worried that she would go into labor early and stuff like that,'' Pedroia said. "But it all worked out great, they're both healthy and that's all I could ask for.''

So how did Dylan react to having a baby brother?

"He's all fired up,'' Pedroia said, smiling. "Thank God the baby's big, because he'll probably beat on him a little bit, but it's all good.''